Miss MichiganI DON'T SWALLOW!!!

6/7/2012 9:18 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

Miss Michigan says she didn't drink a DROP of vodka during the Miss USA after party in Vegas Sunday night -- despite a boozy photo TMZ posted this morning-- telling us, she posed with the bottle ... but never swallowed.

21-year-old Kristen Danyal tells us she doesn't drink alcohol whatsoever ... she's not "that kind of person" -- Kristen just took the booze-chugging pic as a joke because her friends goaded her into it.

Kristen tells us, "Everyone was telling me to drink and wanted me to drink, but everyone that knows me knows I don’t drink.”

Kristen says, “I had friends who came out to watch me and other girls there from previous pageants saying 'Drink! Drink!' ... They knew I was upset about losing and tried to cheer me up." Posing for the photo was Kristen's solution.